Device and method for controlling the output of driver information and for maintaining the attention of a driver of an automated vehicle

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and a method for controlling the output of driver information to a driver of a vehicle, with the objective of entertaining the driver and/or the passengers of the vehicle and/or increasing the driver attentiveness of the driver. A database of points of interest or objects of general interest, a database of topographic information, a device for determining the whereabouts of the vehicle, and an evaluation device to which these information items are delivered, are provided. The evaluation device ascertains, from the current whereabouts of the vehicle and from the topographic information, which points of interest or objects of general interest are present in the driver&#39;s field of view, and outputs via an output device the driver information regarding the point of interest or the object of general interest which has been ascertained by the evaluation device to be located in the driver&#39;s field of view.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method forcontrolling the output of driver information to a driver of a vehicle,with the objective of entertaining the driver and/or the passengers ofthe vehicle and/or increasing the driver attentiveness of the driver.For that purpose, a database of points of interest or objects of generalinterest is provided, a database of topographic information is provided,a device for determining the whereabouts of the vehicle is provided, andan evaluation device to which these information items are delivered isprovided. This evaluation device ascertains, from the currentwhereabouts of the vehicle and from the topographic information, whichpoints of interest or objects of general interest are present in thedriver's field of view, and outputs via an output device the driverinformation regarding the point of interest or the object of generalinterest which has been ascertained by the evaluation device to belocated in the driver's field of view.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

German Patent Application No. DE 10 2013 212 186 A1 describes a devicein a vehicle for acquiring, with a camera, at least one image of atleast one object located outside the vehicle, this device encompassing aposition determination device for determining the position of thecamera, having a memory containing a terrain model that encompassespositional information of the at least one object to be imaged and alandscape model of an intermediate position of the camera andobject-related landscape; having a determination device for determining,from the position of the camera, from the positional information of theobject to be imaged, and from the landscape model, a visual connectionbetween the camera and the object to be imaged; and having a controlsystem that is embodied to apply control to the camera in order toacquire an image or an image sequence when the presence of a visualconnection between the camera and the object to be imaged is identifiedby the determination device; as well as a method for acquiring images,by which the automatic acquisition of images of so-called POIs isenabled as they are passed by in the context of a journey with avehicle.

SUMMARY

In accordance with the present invention, an apparatus and a method areprovided for controlling the output of driver information thatentertains the driver as necessary or enhances the driver's driverattentiveness as necessary, by the fact that information regardingpoints of interest or objects of general interest in the driver's fieldof view is outputted. This can occur by output of a request signal.

According to the present invention, this is achieved in accordance withexample embodiments. Advantageous refinements and embodiments areevident from the disclosure herein.

In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, therequest signal can be outputted by detection of a driver-initiatedaction, for example by way of a longer-dwelling driver gaze or a drivergesture; or the request signal can be outputted by a monitoring systemthat, in a specific situation, recognizes triggering conditions as beingmet, for example by the fact that a driver monitoring system recognizesdriver fatigue and outputs a request signal.

Advantageously, in accordance with an example embodiment of the presentinvention, provision is made that in addition, a device for monitoringthe driver is provided, by way of which the current gaze direction ofthe driver and/or the driver's facial expression and/or the driver'sgestures and/or the pointing direction of a finger or hand or arm of thedriver and/or a device for voice recognition and/or an actuation of anoperating device by the driver is detected, and the driver's currentfield of view is determined. The “field of view” is the region that thedriver is currently observing. The viewing region can also be defined asa “region of interest,” i.e., as a region around a point of interesthaving a predetermined spatial extent. It is particularly advantageousto use for this purpose a driver observation camera, for example aninterior camera, which can detect the driver's attentiveness with regardto current driving events and can recognize the driver's gestures orfacial expressions and gaze direction and make them available to theevaluation device.

It is further advantageous in the context of the method according to anexample embodiment of the present invention that the evaluation deviceadditionally has delivered to it data of a device for monitoring thedriver, in particular that data of a driver gaze direction recognitionsystem and/or data of a driver facial expression recognition systemand/or data of a driver gesture recognition system and/or data of asystem for recognizing the pointing direction of a finger of the driverand/or data of a voice recognition device and/or data of adriver-actuatable operating device are delivered to the evaluationdevice, and the driver's current field of view is determined therefrom.

In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, it isfurthermore advantageous that an environment sensor is provided on thevehicle, and/or a device for determining the vehicle orientation isprovided, by way of which the driver's current field of view isdetermined. By way of this device for determining the vehicleorientation or the environment sensor for detecting the vehicleenvironment in front of the vehicle, the driver's approximate currentgaze direction can be determined and it is possible to determinetherefrom, in conjunction with the database of topographic informationand the database of points of interest or objects of general interest,which points of interest or objects of general interest are presentlyvisible in the driver's field of view. The environment sensor on thevehicle can be embodied in particular as a driver assistance camera,oriented in the direction of travel, which is usually installed in theregion of the vehicle's windshield and detects the vehicle environmentin the direction of travel of the vehicle.

Thanks to the knowledge of the current driver gaze direction and theknowledge of the points of interest or objects of public interestcurrently visible in the vehicle environment, it is possible todetermine whether the driver is currently looking at a point of interestor is pointing at a point of interest or an object of public interest,and thus whether information pertinent to that object is to be playedback. It is also possible that when it is detected that the driver isbecoming tired or beginning to doze, the information regarding acurrently visible object of public interest or a currently visible pointof interest is played back and the driver's fatigue is thereby reducedand traffic safety is enhanced.

In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, it isfurthermore advantageous that the output device is a display apparatusfor outputting images and/or videos, and/or is an audio system by way ofwhich music and/or voice information is outputted. The informationregarding the points of interest or the objects of public interest canbe videos or texts or images regarding historical circumstances,architecture, urban planning aspects, sports, culture, or points ofinterest in nature or the landscape. Several different information itemsof different kinds can be stored for each object.

In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, it isfurthermore advantageous that the evaluation device outputs, by way ofthe output device, driver information regarding the points of interestor the object of general interest to which the driver is pointing withhis or her finger, to which the driver has directed his or her gaze, orfor which the driver has orally requested information from theinformation system by way of a voice control system. An advantageousembodiment is such that the driver allows his or her gaze or pointedfinger to dwell for a minimum time on the object of general interest orthe point of interest, so that the desire for an information playback inthat regard is recognized. It is furthermore possible, alternatively orin combination, to request output of the information manually by way ofdriver-actuatable operating elements such as switches or screen inputdevices (touchscreens).

In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, it isadditionally advantageous that the driver's gaze direction or thedriver's pointing direction which is recognized by way of the device formonitoring the driver is transformed from a vehicle coordinate systeminto a global coordinate system, and the driver's current field of view(7) is ascertained in consideration of the ascertained current vehicleposition and in consideration of the ascertained current vehicleorientation. Because the interior sensor system is vehicle-referred, andthe driver's gaze direction or pointing direction can be determined onlyin terms of the vehicle-referred coordinates, it is particularlyadvantageous if that gaze direction or pointing direction is converted,with the aid of the ascertained current vehicle position and theascertained current vehicle orientation, from a vehicle coordinatesystem into a global coordinate system. As soon as the driver's gazedirection or pointing direction exists in a global coordinate system,i.e., a stationary coordinate system that does not move along with thevehicle or with another movable object, it is relatively simple toascertain which point of interest or object of general interest islocated in the driver's gaze direction, since the pointing direction orgaze direction exists in the same coordinate system as thegeocoordinates of the points of interest or of the objects of generalinterest.

In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, it isfurthermore advantageous that output of the information regarding theclosest point of interest or closest object of general interest isautomatically initiated when the device for monitoring the driverrecognizes that the driver is exhibiting signs of fatigue, is showingsigns of boredom, is no longer attentively following traffic events, orif the route being traveled is monotonous. It is thereby possible, byway of the system-initiated playback of information, in particular ofinformation that is of interest to the driver, to increase the latter'sattentiveness and thereby to contribute to traffic safety. Fatigue oralso inattentiveness on the part of the driver can be recognized, forexample, by way of an interior camera that images the driver and his orher facial expressions. Alternatively or in combination, the steeringangle can also be evaluated, since a driver with signs of fatigue orattentiveness deficits exhibits characteristic steering motions andsteering patterns. The indication of boredom can be ascertained, forexample, based on the frequency and duration of a gaze that deviatesfrom traffic events. Indications of a monotonous route of travel can berecognized, for example, by way of a video-based or radar-basedenvironment sensor, by recognizing the regularity and duration ofrecurring patterns such as guardrails.

In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, it isfurthermore advantageous that several information items, in particularregarding different information categories such as history, culture,architecture, sport, business, or landscape and nature, are stored inthe database for each point of interest or each object of publicinterest, and that a record is kept as to which information has alreadybeen played back at an earlier point in time, in order to avoidrepetition and to play back information in accordance with a driverpreference. If the same route is traveled several times, this makes itpossible for different information to be outputted each time as the samepoint of interest or the same object of general interest is passed, sothat the driver receives new and therefore interesting information evenwhen the same point is passed several times, since the same informationis not repeated each time the same point is passed by. It isadditionally advantageous that preferences are predefinable by thedriver as to which information is played back by the output device withrespect to a point of interest or an object of general interest, or asto the sequence in which the information with respect to a point ofinterest or an object of general interest is outputted. Becausedifferent information is stored for each point of interest or object ofgeneral interest based on categories, for example the categories ofhistorical information, architectural information, sports information,information regarding nature and landscape or information regardingcountry and people, the driver can indicate his or her preferredinformation category or can sort a list of the information categories inthe sequence of his or her interest, so that upon playback ofinformation only the information in the category of interest to him orher is played back, or in a context of multiple passages the variousinformation items are played back in the sequence of his or herinterest.

The example method(s) according to the present invention can beimplemented, for example, in software or hardware or in a mixed form ofsoftware and hardware, for example in a control device.

The approach presented here furthermore provides a driver informationand driver attentiveness system that is embodied to carry out, control,or implement the steps of a variant of the method presented here incorresponding devices.

In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, thecontrol system for controlling the playback of driver information or forincreasing driver attentiveness can be an electrical device having atleast one computation unit for processing signals or data, at least onememory unit for storing signals or data, and at least one interfaceand/or communication interface for reading in or outputting data thatare embedded in a communication protocol. The computation unit can be,for example, a signal processor, a so-called “system ASIC,” or amicrocontroller for processing sensor signals and outputting datasignals as a function of the sensor signals. The memory unit can be, forexample, a flash memory, an EPROM, or a magnetic memory unit. Theinterface can be embodied as a sensor interface for reading in thesensor signals from a sensor and/or as an actuator interface foroutputting the data signals and/or control signals to an actuator. Thecommunication interface can be embodied to read in or output the datawirelessly and/or in wire-based fashion. The interfaces can also besoftware modules that are present, for example, on a microcontrolleralongside other software modules.

In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, alsoadvantageous is a computer program product or computer program havingprogram code that can be stored on a machine-readable medium or memorymedium such as a semiconductor memory, a hard-drive memory, or anoptical memory, and is used to carry out, implement, and/or control thesteps of the method as recited in one of the embodiments describedabove, in particular when the program product or program is executed ona computer, a programmable control device, or a similar apparatus.

Be it noted that some of the possible features and advantages of thepresent invention are described herein with reference to embodimentsdifferent from a method for controlling a driver information device. Oneskilled in the art recognizes that the features can be combined,adapted, or exchanged in suitable fashion in order to arrive at furtherembodiments of the present invention, in view of the disclosure herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplifying embodiments of the present invention are explained belowwith reference to the figures.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a driving situation to explain an exampleembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an example embodiment of theapparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram to explain an example embodiment ofthe method according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows an exemplifying driving situation in which a road 1 isdepicted. Vehicle 2 that possesses the system according to the presentinvention is driving on this road 1. Road 1 furthermore has curves, andonly its closer portion is visible to the driver of vehicle 2. Vehicle 2is a vehicle that possesses an automated or even autonomous drivingmode, so that in addition to manual vehicle guidance the driver can alsoallow the vehicle to drive independently, and in the context ofautomatic driving can merely perform monitoring tasks or in fact doesnot need to take on any further driving responsibility at all. Anenvironment sensor, which is installed, e.g., as a camera in the regionof the vehicle's windshield, is installed, for example, in vehicle 2.Alternatively, a sensor of a global satellite navigation system couldalso be used, for example a GPS sensor, which is evaluated together witha gyroscopic sensor and a digital map in order to determine thevehicle's orientation.

While vehicle 2 is driving on road 1, the driver in vehicle 2 is capableof viewing a certain terrain portion. The limits of his or her field ofview 7 are drawn in FIG. 1 for that purpose. The environment sensorinstalled in the vehicle, which can be installed. e.g. as a front camerain the region of the vehicle's windshield, has approximately the samefield of view 7. According to the present invention, a determination ismade as to which points of interest 3, 4, 5 are present in the driver'sfield of view 7. Point of interest 3, depicted by way of example as avillage, is located in the driver's field of view 7. Object of publicinterest 4, which is depicted in FIG. 1 by way of example as a point oflandscape interest or point of natural interest, is located outside thedriver's field of view 7, and would be visible to the driver only if heor she turned his or her head or if, as road 1 continues, the vehicleorientation of vehicle 2 changes in such a way that point of interest 4comes into the driver's field of view 7. Further point of interest 5,which is depicted by way of example as a historical or architecturalpoint of interest in the form of a castle, is located behind a terrainelevation 6 that is depicted by way of example in FIG. 1 as a mountain.This object of general interest as well, in the form of point ofinterest 5, would be located within the driver's field of view 7 justlike point of interest 3 depicted as a village, but point of interest 5is not visible to the driver because castle 5 is located behind terrainelevation 6. Only as road 1 continues to be traveled, when vehicle 2 hasdriven partly around the terrain elevation, will point of interest 5, inthe form of the castle that is depicted, become visible. Within thisdriving situation of FIG. 1 which is depicted by way of example, it isevident that for the driver of vehicle 2, only the object of generalinterest in the form of village 3 is currently visible in the driver'sfield of view 7. Point of interest 4 in the form of a landscape objectof general interest is not located in the field of view since it isoutside field of view 7 because of the viewing angle; and point ofinterest 5 of architectural or historical interest, in the form ofcastle 5, is also not visible to the driver in his or her field of view7 since it is concealed by terrain elevation 6. In accordance with thepresent invention, the positions of the objects currently visible infield of view 7 is determined with the aid of the positions of points ofinterest 3, 4, 5 in a database having objects of general interest. Thetopographic information regarding the surrounding terrain is furnishedfrom the same database or a further database; with this, elevation dataare ascertained and with those data a determination is made as to whichobjects of general interest 3, 4, 5 are not only located in the gazedirection of the driver of vehicle 2, but are also in fact currentlyvisible to him or her based on the terrain topography. Because village 3is the only object of general interest that is located in field of view7 of the driver of vehicle 2 and is also currently visible to thedriver, information for that object is kept on hand. Several informationitems can be kept on hand for each of objects 3, 4, 5, for exampleinformation regarding historical background, landscape features, sportsinformation, cultural information, or further information categories.This information regarding point of interest 3 that is currently presentin field of view 7 is outputted only after a request signal exists; inthe context of the information output, preferences can be stipulated bythe driver in advance as to which information categories are to beoutputted or which categories are to be outputted on a priority basis.This request can be, for example a longer dwell time of the driver'sgaze on one of points of interest 3 that is located in the driver'sfield of view 7, which can be recognized, for instance, by way of aninterior camera. Alternatively or in combination, this request can alsobe recognized by the fact that the driver points for a longer period oftime to one of the visible points of interest 3, 4, or requests itverbally by way of a voice input. It is additionally possible for therequest signal to be generated automatically by the fact that a drivermonitoring device, for example a steering angle monitoring system of thesteering column of vehicle 2 or a system for recognizing the face of thedriver of vehicle 2, identifies an exceedance of a fatigue threshold,and information regarding point of interest 3 is then played back in thedriver's field of view 7 in order to increase driver attentiveness.

FIG. 2 is an exemplifying block diagram of an embodiment of theapparatus according to the present invention which can be installed byway of example in vehicle 2. It depicts an evaluation device 10 whichpossesses an input circuit 11 and by way of which input signals 12 canbe made available to evaluation device 10. Suitable input signals 12 aredata of a database 13 having information regarding points of interest orobjects of general interest 3, 4, 5. In addition to the points ofinterest, their geographic location, in particular their geographiclongitude and latitude, are stored, as well as interesting informationwith regard to the information categories that are provided. Inputsignals 12 of a database 14 having topographic information are alsodelivered to input circuit 11 of evaluation device 10. Database 14having topographic information encompasses data regarding the terrainprofile in the region around vehicle 2, advantageously information thatextends as far as the driver's visible horizon. This database 14regarding topographic information can furthermore contain informationwith regard to surrounding buildings, for example so that within a largecity, a nearby tall building is also available as topographicinformation. Information of a position determination device 15 whichrepresents the current geographic position of vehicle 2 is delivered toinput circuit 11 of evaluation device 10 as a further input signal 12.These position data of position determination device 15 can also, forexample, contain the orientation of vehicle 2 in the landscape.Alternatively or in combination, it is furthermore possible to ascertainthis from directional information of vehicle 2 in its environment, byway of a further device for determining vehicle orientation 16 which canbe, for example, an environment sensor such as a front camera in theregion of the windshield of vehicle 2. By way of this environmentcamera, field of view 7 of vehicle 2 can be determined and can bereconciled with stored image data from a database or a data cloud, andthe vehicle orientation in the surroundings can thereby be recognized.These data of environment sensor 16 are delivered to input circuit 11,alternatively or in addition to the orientation information of positiondetermination device 15, as an input signal 12. From the knowledge ofthe current vehicle position, the current vehicle orientation, and thepositions of objects of general interest 3, 4, 5, the current driverfield of view 7 can be ascertained. With the addition of the topographicinformation of database 14, it is possible to filter out those objectsof general interest 3, 4, 5 which are located within the driver's fieldof view 7 but are not currently visible to the driver because of terraintopography or buildings, as was described, e.g., for point of interest 5in FIG. 1. By way of device 9 for monitoring the driver, it is possibleto recognize whether a driver is allowing his or her gaze to dwell for alonger time on a point of interest 3, 4, 5, whether he or she ispointing with his or her finger or hand to a point of interest 3, 4, 5,or whether he or she is exhibiting signs of decreased attentiveness. Itis further possible for the driver to request information manually byway of a driver-actuatable operating element such as a push-and-turnpositioner or a touch-sensitive display and input device (touchscreeninput device). The request signals of device 9 for monitoring the driverare likewise delivered as input signals 12 to input circuit 11 ofevaluation device 10. Once input signals 11 have been delivered via adata exchange device 17, which advantageously can be embodied as a bussystem, to a computation device 18 that can be embodied, e.g., as amicroprocessor or microcontroller, a determination is made incomputation device 18 of points of interest 3, 4, 5 that are locatedwithin the driver's field of view 7 and are also, based on the terrainelevations, in fact visible to the driver. If a request signal of drivermonitoring device 9 is subsequently recognized, information with regardto points of interest 3 currently visible to the driver of vehicle 2 isthen outputted. The driver can previously enter preferences as to whichkinds of information are to be outputted, for example onlysports-related information, or can specify a sequence in which theinformation categories that are available with respect to the visibleobject of general interest 3 are to be played back. When a requestsignal is recognized in calculation device 18, output information isthen outputted via data exchange device 17 to output circuit 19 ofevaluation device 10, which outputs output signals 20. Output signals 20can be playback information in the form of images, movies, music, ortexts, which are outputted via at least one output device 21. Outputsignals 20, which for example encompass visual playback information, canplay back text or movies by way of a video device 22 that can be, forexample, a display device in the center console of the vehicle or inheadrests of the front seats. Audible playback information that isoutputted as output signals 20 can be outputted in output device 21, forexample, as text or music by being delivered to an audio system 23.Additionally or alternatively, it is possible to deliver output signals20 to playback device 21, which can possess a radio interface 24 thatcan be embodied, e.g., as a wireless interface for data communicationsuch as a WLAN adapter or Bluetooth adapter, so that the occupants ofvehicle 2 can view and/or listen to this information on portableend-user devices such as smartphones or tablet devices.

FIG. 3 depicts by way of example a flow chart of a method according tothe present invention. It starts with step 27 by the fact that, forexample, the vehicle ignition is switched on or an assistance system orinfotainment system installed in the vehicle is activated.

In the next step 28, the geographic position of ego vehicle 2 isdetermined by way of position determination device 15, and is deliveredto calculation device 18.

In the next step 29, the orientation of vehicle 2 is determined by thefact that, for example, position determination device 15 can supplyinformation regarding the vehicle orientation, or by the fact that theorientation of vehicle 2 is ascertained via an environment sensor 16 andthe terrain features determined therewith.

In the next step 30, the driver's field of view 7 is determined by thefact that the driving direction and the driver's gaze direction aredetermined from the current vehicle position and the current vehicleorientation. For this, the driver is monitored by way of the interiorsensor system and the driver's gaze direction or pointing direction isascertained. This driver gaze direction or driver pointing directionexists in a vehicle-referred coordinate system, since the interiorsensor system is mounted in the vehicle. These coordinates that exist inthe vehicle coordinate system are transformed, with the aid of theascertained current vehicle position and the ascertained current vehicleorientation, into a global coordinate system that does not move alongwith the vehicle but instead is stationary. From this it is possible toascertain the driver's current field of view 7 and, from that, also todetermine points of interest 3, 4, 5 or objects of general interest 3,4, 5 that are located in the driver's gaze direction.

The points of interest or objects of general interest 3, 4, 5 that arelocated in the driver's gaze direction and are additionally visible tothe driver are then ascertained in step 31. For this, the information ofthe database having topographic information 14 is additionally deliveredto calculation device 18; and by also incorporating terrain conditions,a determination is made in calculation device 18 as to which points ofinterest or objects of general interest not only are located in thedriver's gaze direction but are also visible within the driver's fieldof view 7. In FIG. 1, for example, only village 3 is visible within thedriver's field of view 7, but not castle 5, which is in the driver'sgaze direction but is currently not visible. Natural point of interest4, on the other hand, is located neither in the driver's field of view 7nor in the driver's gaze direction.

In the next step 32, a check is made by calculation device 18 as towhether a driver monitoring device 9 has outputted a request signal, forexample by the fact that driver fatigue has been identified or thedriver has allowed his or her gaze to dwell for a longer time on a pointof interest 3, 4, 5 or has pointed with a pointing gesture, for examplewith a finger or hand or arm, at a point of interest 3, 4, 5 for alonger time. If no request from vehicle monitoring device 9 has beenidentified, step 32 then branches to No and execution continues in step28 by redetermining the ego position. If it is identified in step 32that an information output is necessary because a request has takenplace, step 32 then branches to Yes and, in the following step 33, adetermination is made of the object of general interest or the selectedpoint of interest 3 with respect to which information is to be playedback.

In the next step 34, driver information is outputted by the fact thataudiovisual information relating to the point of interest of object ofgeneral interest selected in step 33 is played back. The output in step34 can optionally be delivered as information of a preference list 35that the driver can specify a priori. This preference list specifies thesequence in which information is to be played back, or specifies whichinformation categories are exclusively to be played back or are not tobe played back at all. By way of this preference list 35 the driver canspecify that, for example, no sports-related information regarding afootball stadium located on road 1 is outputted, or can specify thesequence in which the various information categories are to be playedback when the same point of interest 3 or the same object of generalinterest 3 is repeatedly passed by. If the vehicle travels the sameroute several times and if driver information regarding a point ofinterest 3, 4, 5 is requested several times in that context, thecategory information can be played back in sequence at each pass, sothat repetitions of the same information playback can be very largelyavoided.

If the output of driver information has been initiated in step 34, thesubsequent step 36 then notes in database 13 which information hasalready been played back, in order to avoid repetitions of the sameinformation playback. After step 36 the method is then looped back againto step 28 by the fact that the ego position is determined and themethod is executed again from the beginning.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for controlling an output of driverinformation to a driver of the vehicle to entertain and/or to increase adriver attentiveness of the driver, comprising: a database of points ofinterest or objects of general interest; a database of topographicinformation; a device configured to determine whereabouts of thevehicle; an evaluation device to determine, from current whereabouts ofthe vehicle and from the topographic information, which of the points ofinterest or objects of general interest are present in a field of viewof the driver, wherein input signals are delivered to the evaluationdevice, data regarding the points of interest or objects of generalinterest, the topographic data regarding surroundings of the vehicle,and the data regarding whereabouts of the vehicle; and an output deviceto output the driver information regarding one of the points of interestor objects of general interest that have been ascertained by theevaluation device to be located in the field of view of the driver;wherein several information items are stored in the database for each ofthe points of interest or each of the objects of public interest, and arecord is kept as to which of the several information items has alreadybeen played back at an earlier time to avoid repetition.
 2. Theapparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising: a device configuredto monitor the driver by way of which at least one of the following isdetected: a current gaze direction of the driver and/or a facialexpression of the driver and/or gestures of the driver and/or a pointingdirection of a finger or hand or arm of the driver, and/or data of adevice configured for voice recognition and/or an actuation of anoperating device by the driver, and a current field of view of thedriver is determined.
 3. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, furthercomprising: an environment sensor including a driver assistance cameraoriented in a direction of travel on the vehicle; and/or a deviceconfigured to determine an orientation of the vehicle; wherein a currentfield of view of the driver is determined using the environment sensorand/or the device configured to determine the orientation of thevehicle.
 4. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the outputdevice is: (i) a display apparatus configured to output images and/orvideos, and/or (ii) an audio system by way of which music and/or voiceinformation is outputted.
 5. A method for controlling an output ofdriver information to a driver of a vehicle, to entertain and/or toincrease driver attentiveness of the driver, the method comprising:delivering as input signals, to an evaluation device, data regardingpoints of interest or objects of general interest, topographic dataregarding surroundings of the vehicle, and data regarding whereabouts ofthe vehicle; determining, by the evaluation device, from currentwhereabouts of the vehicle and from the topographic information, whichof the points of interest or objects of general interest are present ina field of view of the driver; and outputting, by an output device,driver information regarding the points of interest or objects ofgeneral interest for which the evaluation device has identified arelocated in the field of view of the driver; wherein several informationitems are stored in a database for each point of interest or each objectof public interest, and a record is kept as to which of the severalinformation items has already been played back at an earlier time toavoid repetition.
 6. The method as recited in claim 5, furthercomprising: delivering, to the evaluation device, data of a deviceconfigured to monitor the driver, the data of the driving including:data of a driver gaze direction recognition system, and/or data of adriver facial expression recognition system, and/or data of a drivergesture recognition system, and/or data of a system for recognizing thepointing direction of a finger or hand or arm of the driver and/or dataof a voice recognition device, and/or data of a driver-actuatableoperating device, and/or data of a device for recognizing a posture of ahead of the driver; wherein a current field of view of the driver isdetermined from the delivered data.
 7. The method as recited in claim 5,wherein the evaluation device outputs, by way of the output device,driver information regarding a point of interest or object of generalinterest: (i) to which the driver is pointing with his or her finger orhand or arm, or (ii) to which a gaze of the driver is directed, or (iii)for which the driver has orally requested information from theinformation system by way of a voice control system.
 8. The method asrecited in claim 6, wherein the gaze direction of the driver or thepointing direction, which is recognized by way of the device formonitoring the driver, is transformed from a vehicle coordinate systeminto a global coordinate system, and the current field of view of thedriver is ascertained in consideration of an ascertained current vehicleposition and in consideration of an ascertained current vehicleorientation.
 9. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein an output ofinformation regarding a closest point of interest or closest object ofgeneral interest is automatically initiated when the device formonitoring the driver recognizes that the driver: (i) is exhibitingsigns of fatigue, or (ii) is showing signs of boredom, or (iii) is nolonger attentively following traffic events, or (iv) exhibits signs ofmonotony.
 10. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein preferences arepredefinable by the driver as to which information is played back by theoutput device with respect to a point of interest or an object ofgeneral interest, or as to a sequence in which the information withrespect to a point of interest or an object of general interest isoutput.